Today we’re sharing something a little different from our usual content, but I think it could be useful to many travelers. During our 7-week road trip in Norway, we used an eSIM for the first time and tested Airalo’s services.
When we travel, we often need to stay connected, and for those of us who are now working at the same time, this is even more important. We have “unlimited” plans in Switzerland that also include mobile data abroad. This plan is usually more than enough when we’re taking a short trip in Europe or when we also have access to Wi-Fi (when we stay at a co-living space, for example). But on a long-term van trip, our 40GB monthly allowance is usually nowhere near enough if we need to work on our laptops at the same time… so that’s how we started looking for solutions to always have enough mobile data.
What is Airalo?
Before we go any further, we think it’s important to let you know that we were contacted by Airalo to test their product. To be honest, we usually decline this type of collaboration, but their email arrived right before we left for Norway, and we knew we’d need mobile data along the way, so we agreed to test it. We weren’t paid, but we did receive a small credit to test their service (we used up the credit very quickly and then continued using the service on our own initiative, paying for all of our top-ups ourselves).
The links in this article are affiliate links, which means we earn a small commission if you click through them. However, by using the promo code “NOVOMONDE,” you’ll get 15% off your first e-SIM.
eSIM or local SIM card: Which should you choose?
2026 will have been our first year using an eSIM. Yeah, yeah—we’re probably not what you’d call pioneers, considering this technology has been around since about 2018 and many carriers have been offering it since 2020. But here’s the thing: Benoit and I aren’t the type to switch out our smartphones every other day (basically, when we buy one, we use it until it’s completely worn out, haha). Anyway, it’s only been a year since I got an eSIM-compatible smartphone; before that, I just had a phone with two slots for physical SIM cards.
So if, like us, you’re a bit of a “dinosaur” when it comes to your phone, the choice between “eSIM” and “local SIM” isn’t really relevant. 😉 And let’s be honest, local SIM cards usually work perfectly fine. I couldn’t tell you exactly how many SIM cards we’ve bought abroad, but it’s definitely well over twenty. Whether it was during our round-the-world trip, our 5-month road trip in Spain, or when we visited the Baltic states—every time, we bought local SIM cards.
Setup is easy, and finding a SIM card is generally straightforward (they’re available at many newsstands and supermarkets). That said, if you want to find the best option, comparing the various local plans can take time, and the best plans are usually not available to travelers (you need a residential address in the country and/or a local bank account to sign up). In short, this solution works, but it can sometimes be a bit of a hassle.
The eSIM offers the great advantage that you can manage everything directly from your phone. There’s no need to go anywhere or try to figure out foreign plans in the local language. You can download the app in advance, set up the eSIM in advance, add credit, and simply leave the SIM card deactivated. Then, once you arrive in the country, just tap “Activate SIM Card” and everything works.
Our Airalo Review: Why and Where We Used It
Before Airalo contacted me, I’d assumed we were going to buy a Norwegian SIM card, to be honest… It was their email that made me wonder if my new phone was compatible, and when I saw that it was, I figured it was worth a try.
I was already familiar with Airalo because quite a few of our guests who stay at Alpiness Coliving use it (and yes, since Switzerland isn’t part of the European Union, many European data plans don’t cover our “dear” little country). Every time, people seem really happy with it.
As I mentioned earlier, our “everyday” plan includes 40 GB of data per month while abroad, but for a trip spent entirely in a van—where we’re also working at the same time—we knew full well that wouldn’t be enough. To give you an idea, with our two phones and especially our two laptops, we use roughly 100 to 150 GB per month #ouch
That said, we’re well aware that we’re not “average” and know that working online comes with these kinds of trade-offs. Our carrier also offers data add-on “packs,” but that’s when the cost really starts to add up… Our carrier charges about €50 for an additional 10 GB. I’ll let you do the math, but that comes to over €800 in mobile data for a two-month trip. With Airalo, the same amount of mobile data cost us €120 for two months. That’s still a lot, but then again, our usage isn’t exactly “standard.” 😉 But we’ll go over the pricing details below.
Is Airalo reliable? Our experience
We only knew about the app and the eSIM through our roommates, who use them when they’re in Switzerland, and we knew they were happy with them. For us, this was our first time trying it out, and to be perfectly honest, I was prepared to possibly have to buy a data plan from our carrier in case it didn’t work. In the end, we didn’t have a single problem and are 100% satisfied with Airalo. We used it extensively throughout our entire stay, always had great reception, and the setup and activation were a breeze.
For us, one of the key benefits of mobile data while traveling is being able to share our connection with our computers. Because, yes, when we travel in a van, we usually spend several hours a day working “just like at home”—but from inside our vehicle. I’d read that some carriers prohibit hotspot sharing or impose daily limits (for example, a maximum of 500 MB per day with Holafly). With Airalo, there are no limits, and everything works perfectly.
To be honest, there have been several times when we spent a few days at a campground that had Wi-Fi but still ended up using our cell data because the connection was better. 😉
How much does an Airalo eSIM cost?
Airalo’s rates vary by country and depend on how much data you’ll need (and the length of your stay). My advice: Check before you leave to see how well your current plan covers your travel destination. And be careful—many plans marketed as “unlimited” still have a data limit when used abroad (usually 35 or 40 GB). Next, check if your carrier offers “travel plans” for your destination, and then compare those rates with Airalo’s.
With a Swiss plan, it’s a no-brainer for us. Airolo’s rates are easily 40 to 70% cheaper, but that will obviously depend on your carrier.
To give you an idea, during our trip to Norway we bought 50 GB data packs for 30 CHF (about 32€). In total, over the course of our two-month trip, we used four of them (the first one was a gift, and we bought the next three).
Unlimited Plan vs. Fixed-Rate Plan
On Airalo, you’ll always find two options: “unlimited” plans for a set duration and packages that include a certain amount of mobile data. The durations of the unlimited plans range from 3 to 30 days, and prices generally range from €10.50 for 3 days to €61 for 30 days. These “unlimited” plans are a great option for people who want to travel without worrying about their smartphone.
As you read above, we bought four 50 GB data plans (total cost of €130 for 6 weeks). If we had bought two “unlimited” plans—one for 30 days and one for 15 days—it would have cost us about €104… So why didn’t we do that?
In fact, these so-called “unlimited” plans are designed for smartphone use, and even when the plan says “unlimited,” there is actually a limit—3GB per day. If you only use your smartphone, this limit is very generous, and it will be hard to reach it even if you watch a lot of videos.
When we’re not working, our phone data usage is well below that threshold… But… Since we work remotely, we also use our phones in “tethering” mode when we’re working from the van for the day. And as soon as we start working, the two of us easily use up 10–15 GB a day. In short, this “unlimited” plan might work for us on a short vacation, but for longer trips where we’re working at the same time, it’s not enough.
In which countries is an eSIM useful? How do you use it?
Airalo is available in just about every country in the world, and there are also packages that are very convenient if, for example, you plan to travel between different countries. There are “Asia” packages if you’re taking a multi-country trip, a “Europe” package for an Interrail trip, for example, as well as options for Oceania or Africa—or even more specific options like the “African Safari” package, which includes Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania (countries that are often visited together during a trip). In short, the options are almost endless, and it’s worth comparing rates directly on their website.
That said, it’s often more cost-effective to choose a single country rather than a bundle if you’re just “passing through.” For example, for our trip to Norway, we could have bought a “Europe” plan for $70 for 50GB, but it made more sense for us to keep the 40 GB we automatically get with our Swiss plan to travel through Germany and Denmark and to buy only mobile data for Norway ($36 for 50 GB).
As for usage, the eSIM can work perfectly “side by side” with your regular SIM card. The Airalo eSIM offers only mobile data—no calls or text messages. Of course, you can use apps like WhatsApp to make calls, but these calls won’t go through the foreign mobile network—they’ll only use foreign mobile data.
For calls and text messages, I recommend checking with your carrier to see if they’re included. If they aren’t, be sure to disable roaming (data roaming) on your regular SIM card. In my case, calls were included, so I simply set my phone to use my primary SIM card for calls and texts while making sure to select my e-SIM for mobile data.
How to Install the Airalo eSIM
This was my very first time using an eSIM, and I had absolutely no idea how it worked… I’ll be honest, I expected to have to tinker with my phone’s settings a bit, but I was actually pleasantly surprised at how incredibly simple this step turned out to be.
The only important rule for installing an eSIM is to do it with a stable internet connection! So don’t wait until you’re on the go or connected to a spotty airport Wi-Fi network to do it—instead, do it from the comfort of your home or somewhere with good reception! Note: You can safely install the eSIM several days before your trip and simply activate it once you’re in the country. Installing an eSIM doesn’t mean it will automatically activate at that point!
The procedure is slightly different depending on whether you have an iPhone or an Android phone, but the general steps are essentially the same.
Before you leave:
- Go to the Airalo website and create a (free) account
- Install the Airalo app on your phone and sign in with the credentials you created earlier
- Open the app and search for the eSIM you want (a specific country, region, or continent—it’s up to you).
- Purchase the eSIM, then go to the “My eSIMs” tab
- Click “Install eSIM” and do not exit the app until the process is complete.
Once you arrive in your destination country:
- Open your phone’s settings (not the Airalo app) and go to the SIM cards menu. Enable the eSIM, and then make sure it’s selected for mobile data
It really is that simple! Note that if the eSIM isn’t recognized right away, you may need to switch to airplane mode and then turn it off, or turn the phone off and on again, for the network switch to take effect. It worked right away for me, but apparently this extra step may be necessary on some devices.
Our assessment after several months of use
Honestly, we’re really happy with this eSIM service, and we’ll definitely keep using it for our “long” trips. For shorter trips, the 40 GB of data we get from our carrier is usually enough, but if we’re gone for more than a week and working at the same time, it can start to run low.
In short, when you travel to a country covered by your carrier—which is what I’ll be doing from now on—:
- Turn on data roaming
- Add a notification to let me know when I reach 35 GB of data (since our limit is 40 GB, this gives me time to buy an eSIM, install it, and then make the switch)
- If necessary, purchase an eSIM to complete the process
If I had to offer a “critique” of Airalo, it might be their AirMoney concept. AirMoney is a virtual wallet that you can top off and then use the funds to purchase a data plan. They have a kind of cashback system in place, and the more data plans you buy, the more cashback you receive, which you can then use toward future data plans.
As you can see in the screenshot below, the first pack cost us $1 (we had received $35 in AirMoney to test the service), the second pack cost $36 (the standard rate), and after that the price went down because I was able to use the cashback each time to lower the bill.
The catch with AirMoney is that this credit can’t be used for automatic renewals. That’s because Airalo has this option where you can automatically activate a new data package once 90% of the old one has been used up. But in that case, the transaction is processed entirely through the linked credit card, and you can’t use AirMoney. In short, rather than enabling auto-renewal, I simply set an alert on my phone and manually purchased new data packs based on our usage. It’s really not a major drawback, but it’s good to know.
We hope you enjoyed this article, and don’t forget that when you use the app for the first time, you can enter the code “NOVOMONDE” to get 15% off.
